The infamous Kamunting detention camp in Perak has witnessed scores of individuals incarcerated within its walls, including opposition politicians and activists.

But despite freeing the last batch of Internal Security Act detainees over the weekend, the government has refused to close down the camp.

Furious over this, the anti-ISA movement (GMI) urged the Najib administration to permanently shut its doors.

"If the government is sincere about political transformation, the Kamunting camp, which is the symbol of ISA's cruelty, must be closed down," said GMI leader Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.

He was responding to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who said that Kamunting will now serve as a detention centre for those held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and amended Prevention of Crime Act 1959  and Dangerous Drugs Act 1985.

After the ISA officially ended 17 months ago, some 45 detainees were gradually released since then and the last six were freed on Sunday after serving their full two-year detention term without trial.

However, Syed Ibrahim described the development as a “bittersweet” victory for GMI, which had struggled against the ISA for 13 years.

"There is nothing to boast about," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur."

"The freeing of the six on Jan 5 is truly a sign of an arrogant government which refuses to let the detainees go earlier even under pressure from the people. It was also within the home minister's power to permit this," he added.

Although it was formed in 2001 during the reformasi era, GMI recounted that the fight to abolish the ISA truly began in 1989, when NGO Suaram began fighting for the rights of political detainees after former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad stunned the nation with his dragnet codenamed “Ops Lalang” in 1987.

The fight will go on

While the coalition of some 80 NGOs will now likely disband GMI, a new movement to fight against "new draconian laws"is expected to surface.

Explaining the need to fight on, Syed Ibrahim (right) said that despite abolishing the ISA, the movement towards democracy and open society in Malaysia is "still superficial in nature."

"It is not the way that we should be moving forward in this country," he said, adding that political clampdown has only increased since GE13.

Initially a grassroots movement backed mainly by ex-ISA detainees and their families, Syed Ibrahim recounted how thousands of Malaysians had rallied behind GMI’s cause in demonstrations against the ISA in August 2009, shortly after Najib Abdul Razak came into power.

"GMI believes it was such pressure from the rakyat that was the main factor why the government had agreed to abolish the ISA on June 22, 2012," he said.

Also present at the press conference was Suaram's executive director Yap Swee Seng who urged the government to turn the Kamunting camp into a museum so that history will not repeat itself.

Meanwhile, spouses of ex-ISA detainees who had worked for GMI also said that their families were still struggling to escape the shadow of being ex-detainees.

Norlaila Othman (left), whose husband was detained from 2002-2009, said that leaving Kamunting was not equal to leaving the Home Ministry's watch.

She cited how her husband's movements had been constantly monitored and how difficult it was to keep a job when employers found out about his ISA history.

Norlaila cited that one of the six ISA detainees who was freed just a few days ago, Nazri Dollah, has already been approached by the police.

She said that special branch officers in Sabah visited Nazri and pressured the Kedahan, who has been living in Tawau for decades, to relocate.